MP: After administrative hurdles overcome, construction of community hall begins rapidly in Sardarpur tehsil

Sardarpur (Madhya Pradesh): After action against the then sarpanch and sitting secretary Ravindra Patidar, the construction of a community hall meant for tribals at Phoolwadi gram panchayat in Sardarpur tehsil began at a rapid pace.

Earlier, Free Press prominently raised the issue on November 3 and November 8 of how the former sarpanch Sharda Hariram Patel and sitting secretary Ravindra Patidar of Phoolwadi gram panchayat made a payment of Rs 8 lakh out of a total of Rs 10 lakh allotted for the community hall, even though construction is yet to begin.

Following this, the sub-divisional magistrate Rahul Chouhan conducted investigation into the matter and based on the outcome of the investigation, recommended to book former sarpanch Sharda Patel and sitting secretary Patidar.

In the report submitted to Dhar district collector Dr Pankaj Jain, SDM Chouhan also recommended action against janpad panchayat CEO Shailendra Sharma considering the functioning of the CEO suspicious.

After submitting the report, SDM Chouhan initiated construction work on the spot. He himself visited the village and took stock of the situation prevailing there.

Notably, during the financial year 2021-22, the finance development department sanctioned Rs 10 lakh for the construction of a community hall for the tribals from Bandikhali hamlet that falls under Phoolwadi gram panchayat, about three kilometres from Sardarpur tehsil headquarters.

The gram panchayat got Rs 8 lakh for the construction work and eight months back, local MLA Pratap Grewal performed bhoomi pujan for it. But even after eight months, no construction work has begun at the spot.

If this is not enough, the then sarpanch Sharda Patel and secretary Patidar made a payment of Rs 7,84,402 after receiving fake bills from nine firms. Even though no work was done.